Trending against the grain: Bird population responses to expanding energy portfolios in the US Northern Great Plains

Abstract

Future global energy demand may be met through increased extraction of fossil fuels and production of renewable energy such as biofuels. Renewable energy from biofuels is often proposed as an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels; however, impacts of renewable energy sources on wildlife populations have rarely been evaluated in working landscapes. We used North American Breeding Bird Survey data (1998 to 2021) to assess whether the joint effects of oil and gas and biofuel crop production explained grassland bird population declines. We modeled location‐specific effects of land use on grassland bird habitat use for four grassland bird species (bobolink [Dolichonyx oryzivorus], grasshopper sparrow [Ammodramus savannarum], Savannah sparrow [Passerculus sandwichensis], and western meadowlark [Sturnella neglecta]) in North Dakota, a state experiencing rapid growth in both energy sectors. Our analysis showed that grassland birds responded more negatively to biofuel feedstocks (i.e., corn and soybeans) on the landscape compared with oil and gas development. Furthermore, we found that the effect of feedstocks was not generalizable to other forms of agricultural land use. When combined, these land use changes resulted in distributional shifts of grassland birds, with use by birds being lower in regions dominated by biofuel production, which appears partially responsible for observed abundance trends at the state level. Our results indicate that expansion of oil and gas development has negatively affected habitat use by some grassland birds, but this impact was more localized when compared to biofuel crops. Conservation practitioners may need to adapt their conservation strategies to account for widespread and rapid land use change driven by United States energy policies.

Quantifying the Effects of Energy Infrastructure on Bird Populations and Biodiversity

“…Presenting an alternative, population-level approach, Miao et al 28 use spatial longitudinal data on wind installations and bird observation routes to estimate wind turbine impacts on bird populations, finding small negative effects. Likewise, van der Burg et al 29 focus on the effects of oil and gas and biofuel crop production on four grassland bird species in North Dakota. Aggregating from site-specific to circle-year-level bird counts and applying a Poisson modeling approach, the authors find that both oil and gas and biofuel crops lead to distributional shifts in bird populations away from these disturbances, with the effects of biofuels dominating.…”